“Still, to this day, it doesn’t seem real,” says Tolliver, who began studying karate, particularly the “hard/soft style” known as Okinawan Goju Ryu, when she was 10 years old.

“During the competition, I just went in and did what I knew, what I had trained for all these years. I didn’t go to the tournament to win; I went to compete and to perfect my form.”

Tolliver is a second-year student at Dalton State, majoring in early childhood education with a dream of earning a master’s in library science one day and becoming a media technology specialist.

From the time the native of Rocky Face began studying karate in elementary school, she knew that she loved the physical and mental discipline of martial arts.

Some of the many benefits of karate, besides learning how to defend oneself from attack, are learning how to live a life of balance, focus, and self-discipline, Tolliver says.

“Karate helps you balance your mind, body and spirit. It disciplines you and helps you focus, and it promotes positive self-esteem. It also helps you become responsible for something greater than yourself.”

Children and adults who study this martial art are taught to be respectful to adults and peers and are taught to strive to become a better person on the inside. They also learn the physical skills of punching, kicking, spiking and “kata,” a prearranged series of movements that demonstrate defensive form, she says.

“We are taught to defend ourselves, not to fight,” says Tolliver, noting that it’s a “private, personal” form of exercise. “You can win a thousand victories, but there’s more glory in the victory you win by walking away.”

The national tournament she competed in this summer is held annually in Springfield, Missouri, and is sponsored by the National College of Martial Arts, created by Hanshi Lou Angel in 1989, which is one of the oldest such schools of martial arts in the country. Many members of the Dalton-based Tenchi Goju Ryu Budokai School of Karate and Self Defense, located in Varnell, where Tolliver both trains and instructs adults as well as younger students, traveled to Springfield and competed as well.

During the tournament, she competed in three divisions: kata, kumite, and kubodo.

Tolliver was named first place in kata, competing in the Black Belt division against about 25 other contestants. She expects to travel back to Missouri next summer and to compete again.

“One thing that’s important about training for this sport is that we’re taught to persevere and to never to give up,” Tolliver says. “The word ‘can’t’ isn’t in our vocabulary. I don’t ever plan to say I’m too old to do this anymore. I hope to be training in this meditative art until I’m at least ninety-five years old.”

In the intervening years, she also plans to continue her studies in the academic realm.

She has found her time at Dalton State to be a very positive experience.

“Before I came to Dalton State, I had always heard that this is one of the more difficult schools,” she says, noting that she’s “been very challenged all along. But whenever I’ve had questions, my instructors have made themselves available for me to talk to.”